The Clear Blue
by jrob
Summary: Shortly after Vash injured Knives in Juli we follow the path of Legato as he meets a strange new plant. She is connected to them all, but how? KnivesLegato backstory


**Okay, so I have been so busy that I have cast aside my other fanfic, which I am very diligently working on I might add, for this one. Of course the normal, I don't own any part of Trigun and this is completely from my head. Read and enjoy – and review!**

The pain in his arm ran the length of his whole body as he sat there in the small, beaten up jeep that Midvalley drove. He could not understand why it hurt so much it had been fine for the majority of the journey and suddenly began throbbing; it was just an arm and for some reason it was telling him that it was not happy to be attached to him, but there was something else.

"Does it hurt?" Midvalley shouted over the wind.

Legato said nothing but winced again as the pain shot another round down his left side. Rubbing his own arm up and down his new one seemed to calm the nerves a little. He turned his gaze out at the bleak horizon. The sand of the desert stretched out as far as he could see and the sun above bleached out the colors of everything; everything but the blue of the sky.

"He said it would hurt for a while, didn't he?" Midvalley again tried to spark up conversation.

Legato did not feel like talking. He hardly knew this person and already he was proving to be insistent. Legato grunted what he thought would suffice for a yes. Midvalley rolled his eyes and turned back to the horizon before them. Legato thought back to the man who gave him this arm; he continued to caress the arm absentmindedly.

_I'm weak and I need someone to do some things for me while I get better. You are now my brother. That… is his arm and it's now yours. I am giving you a new life. You are superior and you will serve me because you are special – wondrous. Legato Bluesummer, you are now powerful just as you wished to be. Limitless. Merciless. My brother…_

He'd given him so much and never looked at him like all the others did. There was no disdain or hate in his cold eyes. He needed him and everything he could do. He needed him to kill.

"Hey," Midvalley interrupted his train of thought, "Do you see that there?"

Slowly the jeep down, he pointed his finger in the direction of a small mesa not too far from them. As Legato turned to look in the direction of Midvalley's finger something winked on the mesa's cliff. He dropped his right arm from the pain, which seemed to some in more violent waves than before, and sat up to look. It winked once again; something was catching the sunlight. Midvalley then slammed on the brakes making Legato jolt forward inches within hitting his forehead on the windshield. Legato turned to scold him and saw that the look on Midvalley's face was that of pure excitement.

"Let's go check it out." He laid a hand on his black instrument case between them, "Maybe I can test my baby out."

Legato was confused and didn't want to wait any longer to get to their destination, but Midvalley spun the wheel and gunned the car, heading toward the beguiling wink. Legato hated being with this man and he was sure his frustration and anger where evident on his face. Turning away from Midvalley he looked at the flash of light from the top of the mesa and noticed the tiny trail that wound around the rock's surface leading to the top. Obviously whoever is up there made their way by this trail and whatever is up there is important enough to merit cutting into the rock's surface and make it passable. That unnerved Legato a little. Something up there is important and if that was the case someone would be up there protecting it.

As Midvalley turned onto the path that wound around the mesa, Legato reached out with his mind to see the top of the mesa. It was his _ability_ as Knives had put it and was the reason he was given life again. Using his mind he ran ahead of the jeep and saw the top. Emerging from the smooth surface of the mesa was a small jet exhaust, much like the ones found near that cites that sprouted up around the plants. It was the tail of the ship that crashed to this plant years ago with the seeds of life. The mesa wasn't a mesa at all, but one of the massive ships that housed the makings of a town in its bowels. On the tail of this ship was a hole, which no doubt, lead into its recesses. With his mind's eye he looked around to see where the wink came from but was blinded by a bright light – a light which caused his ability to ram him back into the jeep. _That light, _he thought, _it's like his…_

The jeep steadily made it to the top to show them just what Legato had seen, and while Midvalley stared dumbfounded at the partially exposed ship Legato's attention was on the wink. A metal pole stood out of the ground and on it sat a beautifully colorful bird. The bird, which was having difficulty standing on the thin pole, was waving back and forth; the sun was glinting off the pole causing the winking, but that was not what caught Legato's eye. On the ground next to the pole was a woman sprawled out on the dirt. She laid there, arms flat out, like a cross. Her skin was tanned and her clothes were in tatters but despite all this she seemed to glow with a light that could not be attributed to the sun. The glow seemed to come from within her.

Legato slowly stepped out of the car and walked toward the woman on the ground. There was no way, by looking at her, that he could tell if she were alive or dead, but the glow told him that she was without a doubt odd and puzzling, dead or alive. Midvalley's attention moved to Legato as he moved. His look of excitement widened as he saw he woman lying in the dirt.

"Hey, what-"

Legato silenced him and continued walking. The woman did not move. He was within feet of her and the bird turned his head in his direction. With small turns of his neck the bird looked him over and the pole stopped moving and stood almost completely still. His long shadow hovered over the woman as he looked down on her, and the glow completely faded away. He looked her over then; long lean legs and strong arms, her clothes seemed to be mended in places and torn in others, her boots were old and scuffed. As his eyes made their way back to her face her eyelids cracked open and her green irises met his.

"You're blocking my sun."

Her voice was soft but forceful and as he stepped back to eliminate himself from "her sun." He noticed that her glow was steadily returning. Her eyes shut again as if neither of them were there.

Legato could hear Midvalley behind him getting out of the jeep and walking toward him and the woman on the ground.

"Stay there." Legato ordered and his footfalls stopped.

The bird behind him gave an abrupt squawk and continued his balancing act on the pole; ignoring them both as well. Legato bent down next to the woman, staying clear of the sun, and looked at her more closely. She was still for a moment and then opened her eyes again, fixing her stare on Legato. After a while her eyes wandered to his left arm and remained there. She stared as if all her senses were responding as well – listening, seeing, feeling. She slowly sat up, her eyes never leaving his arm.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" she asked

He absentmindedly reached his right arm up and squeezed his arm.

"It's understandable," she said as she stood in one fail motion, "it's not yours, so of course you'll have problems."

She walked over to the bird and his motion stopped. He flapped his wings and whistled at her. She reached out a finger and stroked his head. Both Legato and Midvalley's eyes were on this woman.

"We saw your bird," Legato finally spoke, "in the distance."

She turned and looked him in the eyes, "He's not mine. I don't own him."

Stroking the bird once again the strange woman chirped at him.

"He's free to do as he pleases."

The bird flew off the pole onto the woman's shoulder and remained there, quiet and still. She then turned and walked toward the ship's wing and the hole that led to the inside. Legato moved quickly toward her and Midvalley jumped through the jeep to the other side to follow.

"Wait," Legato reached out with his mind to stop her but found nothing in the place where her mind should be. All he could see was the glow of the woman as she dove into the darkness of the ship leaving them both standing there.

Legato rushed forward after her.

"Hey," Midvalley stepped forward to stop him, "What are you doing?"

Legato plunged into the depths of the ship leaving Midvalley standing there.

"This is like breaking and entering, right?" Midvalley sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "We should leave."

He looked back at the jeep then smiled and went in after them.

Expecting darkness when he landed on the metal ramp below, Legato was amazed to see that it was fairly lit below. Thin strips of light weaved along the walls cast a faint glow leading deeper into the ship. He stopped and listened, hearing her footfalls in the distance; he ran after her. Keeping his mind open he tried to feel her but managed to feel nothing but the essence of the bird and a myriad of other things that he could not put his finger on. He continued deeper and deeper but couldn't catch her. He'd stop occasionally to listen but Midvalley's steps were beginning to throw him off and all he was going on was the instinct inside him telling him to keep going. The faint glow of the lights cast shadows on the walls that allowed him to see the colors splashes across them. The infantile drawings of a child littered the walls; figures that looked like people, all in different colors and sizes. He then noticed that the walls themselves were not walls at all but the empty chryo-tubes used to house the hundreds of thousands of people in the plant ships. He stopped and looked around; he was deep in the storage area of the ship and it was completely empty. There were no people in the tubes that surrounded him. _It would have to be_, he thought,_ the people in here would be hundreds of years old._

The lights flickered and turned off. Legato was left in the dark and all was silent. He could hear Midvalley curse. Legato reached his hand out and found the wall. Using the wall as his guide he continued to walk toward where the immense feeling led him. He'd walked a little more than ten feet when he was blinded once again by a very bright light. After his eyes began to adjust he saw where he had ended up.

The holographic room had been turned on, which explained why the power had failed, and Legato now stood in an endless field of green grass. The sun in the sky shone down upon him and he could feel the warmth begin to permeate through out his body. He was baffled. _How could this still be in working order after all these years, this type of lost technology?_ He turned to take it all in and saw her sitting in the grass a few feet away from him.

"You are still very weak." she said without looking at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You have a lot to learn." she picked a blade of grass and reclined back. The bird on her shoulder flew off and landed in the grass next to her.

Legato walked toward her and stopped. _Weak. If I'm weak then why Knives need me so badly._ He reached his mind out to her and still came up empty. He could not sense her at all. He pushed himself harder, trying to push into her mind but nothing happened. His legs felt heavy and suddenly he found himself sitting in the grass a few feet away from her. _How did I..._ She laughed. She'd made him sit.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

She turned her head to look at him. "What does it matter?"

"You're one of them aren't you? You're a plant." he once again tried to reach his mind out to her.

"You might as well stop that." she sat back up and sighed, "I told you that your power is too weak."

She twisted the blade of grass between her fingers. Legato watched her as she sat there. He knew she had to be like Knives. The glow he saw when he'd first seen her was the same glow he saw when Knives came to him, and the fact that she could keep him out of her mind meant she was very strong. He just knew she had to be.

"You live here? In this old ship?"

"Yes" she said.

"Why have you stayed here so long? There are towns that you can go to and live in."

She shrugged, "I like it here."

Legato placed his hand on the grass beside him. It felt real. This whole place felt real - the grass, the sky, her - but something inside him was telling him that this was just too real. Much too real to be _real_. When he shifted his eyes from the grass he saw that she was watching him. Her eyes were roaming over him taking in everything about him. Her eyes stopped on his left arm.

"It must feel very strange." With one motion she was up and kneeling before him. "But it will get better; it has taken root."

She reached out a hand and brushed her fingertips along the length of his new arm. She looked into his eyes with a knowing smile.

"It's looking for the one it belongs to, but it cannot find him. That is why it hurts so much." She stood slowly, "It will get better."

She stretched her arms toward the blue sky and yawned.

"Once my sister cut a piece of my finger off. We were cooking." she explained. "It hurt very much, but after a while it stopped. I think that is just how pain works. It hurts to teach you something."

"What?"

She looked at him almost shocked. "I don't know."

She laughed then, a full belly laugh that caused her arms to circle her stomach. Legato watched her as she did this and was as confused as ever. Who was this person? Why was she so intoxicating? When she finally stopped laughing she looked at him for a moment and then turned and walked away.

"Come on, we should find your friend, and I have something to show you, too"

When they found Midvalley he was wondering aimlessly through a dark hallway muttering and cursing under his breath. He was more than glad to finally be found and nearly hugged Legato had Legato not stopped him. As Midvalley recounted what happened to him after lights went out Legato began to wonder why he even came after him in the first place.

"You should tell your friend how lucky he is we found him," a small voice whispered to him from behind, "he could have been lost in here for days."

He turned to see her lithe shape walking into the darkness. He turned and followed her leaving Midvalley talking to himself. When he finally noticed they had left he ran to catch up.

"Are you going to tell me your name? Who you are?" Legato asked.

"Eventually." she called out from the darkness, "First there is something I have to show you. Something you probably want to see."

They continued to walk until she stopped and opened a panel in the wall. Clicking a switch the glowing lights on the walls turned on and illuminated the room which they now inhabited. The thin strings of glowing light wrapped themselves high in the air along the walls of the room they now stood in. A giant room and in this room two mammoth overturned light bulbs stood center stage. As he looked at them, Legato began to realize what happened in here all those years ago. The plants had broken. The two glass bulbs, which housed the plants, had gaping holes in them. Midvalley whistled.

"So that's why the plant doesn't work, why all this sand built up." He walked out into the room.

"It broke on impact." she whispered.

Legato turned and looked at her. Her eyes were lingering on the broken glass and the sand that was slowly building up inside them. He turned his gaze back to the plants and found himself wondering how this had all happened. He was supposed to be on his way to Knives' location and from there he was to assume command while Knives recuperated; how did he manage to get carried away into this mess. This woman and her buried ship nagged at him and that same something forced him to keep going further and it continued to call out to him. He turned quickly to her once again.

"Who are you?" his mind lashed out strongly.

She remained unfazed and looked him in the eyes, green meeting blue.

"Skye."

He remained impassive, "Why are you here?"

"I am waiting for my sister."

Midvalley moved forward, a look of seriousness on his face. "Your sister?"

Skye wandered farther into the room, "She left here a while ago. I have been waiting for her to return."

As she walked closer to the plants the glowing lights on the walls seemed to pulse and the room hummed into life. Legato and Midvalley stood stock still.

"She was tired of staying here – tired of waiting – so she left and I am waiting."

"How long have you been waiting?" Legato asked.

She turned around with a puzzled look on her face, "I am not all that sure."

She continued her trek to the broken plants and the room pulsated more. Midvalley leaned over Legato's shoulder.

"We should probably take her with us." He said seriously, "Knives will want to see her."

Legato remained silent and watched Skye touch the broken glass of one of the plants. _She had to have been in this ship when it landed, but that was so long ago._ Suddenly the pulsing lights and hum stopped and left the room silent – a silence that can be heard. She stood there still with her hand raised to the plant, eyes closed. _She's lonely_; he thought to himself, _I can feel that about her, almost like she was calling out to anyone who would listen._

Back in the jeep the sun was slowly setting leaving the air cool and crisp. Legato and Midvalley sat in silence as Skye, in the backseat, stretched her arms out and let the breeze roll over her. She opened her eyes and looked up at the pure blue sky and saw the flick of the bird's tail as he darted above them, following them. Legato turned and looked at her. He had long since given her his coat to keep her from catching a chill and the stark white of the jacket seemed to magnify the glow that she was radiating from the sun. _What is to become of her?_ he thought. He watched as she smiled wide and laughed that same hearty laugh. Wrapping her outstretched arms around her small frame she looked up at him.

"Whatever happens I believe I will find my sister, Gaia."

He turned with an abrupt curtness that made her laugh again, "I'd appreciate it if you would stay out of my head."

She kept laughing and resumed her stare at the sky. Legato cast one more look back when he realized that the pain in his arm had vanished. Even since she had brushed her fingers along him the pain left.

**Ok, so there it is and I am fairly happy with it. I'll work hard to post the next chapter as well as the next chapter of my Bebop fanfic. Review it, please. Till next time…**


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